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Hicks vows to campaign hard

Magazine Police Chief Boyd Hicks said last week he is “humbled” and “awed” with his easy win in what many thought would be a competitive race for the Republican nomination for Logan County Sheriff.

In the Tuesday, May 20 balloting, Hicks got 73.5 percent of the vote to easily defeat his opponent, Joe Gilliam of Paris. Hicks now moves onto the November General Election where he will face Logan County Sheriff Steve Smith.

Here are the final vote totals in the race:

Hicks 1,423 73.5 percent

Gilliam 511 26.4 percent

”Of course I’m humbled and appreciative of the turnout,” Hicks said. “It’s hard for me to be anything but awed and humbled.”

Both Hicks and Gilliam were making this first attempt to win elective office. Gilliam is a former Arkansas State Trooper and is now employed in asset management for Wal-Mart.

In a post on his Facebook page, Gilliam thanked his supporters and congratulated winners.

“I want to say thank you to all of our supporters and the hard work that was put into this campaign,” Gilliam wrote. “When we first announced we weren’t sure what was going to happen, but we had a plan, we knew what kind of campaign we wanted to run and we never swayed on issues or our beliefs. We have several issues facing our county over the next year and I hope they can be positively resolved and move the county in a forward direction. Congratulations to all candidates that won last night and good luck in the future elections. Joe”

Hicks, who spent 10 hours campaigning in Paris on election day, stuck around for the results to be posted at the Logan County Courthouse in Paris.

“When the first tallies were up I was in the lead and stayed there the whole night,” he said. “It was an awesome feeling. But I’m one of those who doesn’t count the chickens before they hatch. I was on edge until the last numbers came in.”

Hicks now turns his attention to November.

“The next thing is to get everybody to turn out in November,” he said. “My plans are to run like I’m 30 points behind. I don’t know anything but to work hard and that’s what I’m going to do.”

And if he wins in November?

“If I make it in November I will work hard to make sure I don’t let anybody down,” he said.